The Shivering Boy

[filigree_shadow]

Cold, cold forever more. A winter storm roaring through empty stone halls, bearing echoes of despair, desolation, and death on its winds. The scent of frozen, dormant vineyards, bitter sleet, and piercing ozone, hurled through labdanum, benzoin, and olibanum.

OK, so I have this problem with snowy/slushy blends in that they all basically smell the same on my skin. The exact same cold scent. Occasionally I might get a whiff of a berry or some wood or something, but rarely. I keep trying them, hoping for some lucky combination in which I can smell something OTHER than snow/slush, but it's been pretty disappointing.

However, in this one, I can smell something other than cold! I think I hit the jackpot this time. I can actually tell there are resins in this! I mean, they're still fairly indistinct and covered by snow, but I can smell them! And it smells great!

Before now I've had only two snowy blends in my BPAL box: Snow Bunny and Snow-Flakes. I seriously would not mind adding this one at all. I like it a lot. Edited June 29, 2008 by filigree_shadow

[angelicruin]

Sniffing the bottle, it's ozone and grapes.

 

Applied to my skin, it smells like frozen snow covered grapes and benzoin. Definitely a chilly winter blend.

 

 

[pseedie]

~~~The Shivering Boy~~~

 

In the bottle: Mmmmmmmmmmm....cold....and trees, but not the usual trees (i'm not getting any evergreen, which is refreshing in itself!) The menthol is not overpowering....just a reminder of the cold.

 

Wet: exactly the same as in the bottle, which makes me very very happy!!

 

Dry: Oh, now I'm getting dusty grape/berry scent....kind of powdery but still icy and lovely.

 

Timelapse 1 hour: The frozen fruit is still there, though under a dusty dusting of dust....

 

Timelapse 2 hours: dus........ (dang, these fragrances never stay long on me)

 

Verdict: Although the shivering boy left early, his lovely scented memory lingers on..... I adore this fragrance. It's my favorite bpal so far.

[Aldercy]

Cold, cold winter wine. It doesn't smell like alcohol; it's a thin, graceful, berry wine. Spiked with a touch of mulling spices and a certain woodiness? Brittle, gnarly woods. Slush and snow, definitely, but no glaring ozone. Sweet earth and Concord grapes... A very dim, whispering sort of scent.

 

Very beautiful and subtle. Totally genderless, but striking. I wish I had a bottle... Especially since The Shivering Boy doesn't hang on long. Two hours tops, this one.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Aldercy

[BelleAnge]

My first impression of this is Christmas. For some reason smelling this makes me think of Christmas. I smell pine or spruce in this for some reason.

[rayvn1]

Ozone and grapes! Interresting. Takes a while for this oil to settle down and blossom on my skin. After quite some time I have a sweet and light grape-ish scent with a bit of cold lurking in the background - not the sharp and slightly sour snow scent of November or Darkling Thrush, this is lighter and fresher. Probably not a keeper for me, but nice to try it out!

[tragedy]

oh wow I totally unexpectedly love this.

 

I bought this on a whim expecting it to be a *sniff sniff pass* scent.. But it is definately one of the best things I have ever smelled, and definately the best of the winter-types.

 

It reminds me alot of November, with a fruity undertone to sweeten it up.

Stunningly beautiful, I cant stop sniffing my wrist!!

 

[Eutectic]

I love this beyond all reason.

 

Wet--it's cold with a hunt of fruit and greenery underneath.

 

Dry--this is amazing. Cold but not unrelenting. There is warmth here under the snow. Warm fruit newly frozen and something more, like the scent of bayberries or sweet greens.

 

I am beyond help. This is the winner for me of all the Yules. It is pure magic on my skin!!!

 

Quoted myself to bring up the 07 review so I can do the 09 review:

 

 

November 09 review:

 

Oh my Boy came back!!!!

 

Same as 07, same wonderfulness and classy cold fruits and greens. God how I love this scent!!! Long wearing and staying power is incredible. My dearest love from the 07 yules and am so very excited to roll around in this one again for the 09 release!

[surlygurl]

The decant I have is from 2007. I waffled on getting a bottle because it was very grapey - white grapes, but grape nonetheless. Now, 2 years later, the grape is almost non-existent and it is a cold, clear, crisp scent underscored by a touch of sweet resins. This year, it may be a bottle purchase

[angburfield]

this is beautiful! Cold, crisp, elegant and fruity....VERY well blended with unexpected class and sophistication.....LOVE it and will order a back up!

[Schmoozy]

 

The Shivering Boy 2007

I am not sure how Beth does it, but The Shivering Boy is frozen resins, snow and woods. It is a blend that invokes the feeling of ice cold winters and storms. This a snow blend like no other and has aged wonderfully. I can't wait until from my '09 bottle, and I look forward to seeing if there is a grape note that appears, as I couldn't detect one in the orginal release.

[opticnerd]

When first applied and wet I get cold frosty ozone and Twenty-One. Yup, lots of crisp pine-y Juniper and possibly some juniper berry. It quickly evolves though. The juniper and ozone soften into something crisp, bright, and clear as a cool sweetness emerges. As the scent dries down a hint of grapes and something deliciously smooth (benzoin?) come to the fore, making this just beautiful. This scent morphs a bit on me, though I appreciate it in all its phases. Its like walking outside after a huge snow and watching the sun bounce off the snow and ice making everything shimmer and drip. A lovely blend. Definitely bottle worthy.

[IronMollyBlack]

Cold ozone and greenery, and then a bit of sweetness from the grape. Ahhhhh, so many snowy blends to choose from!

[kbrighton]

This is a scent I wanted to love. I fell in love with the description first, I had a fondness for this poor cold boy who I had never met. Then last summer there was a discussion in the forum about which scent to wear to see Harry Potter 6 and which would represent Severus Snape. Someone suggested The Shivering Boy, and since then this scent has been entwined with the idea of a young Snape, cold and alone. I still had not sniffed this blend, yet I had an emotional attachment. And then, there is was offered in the 2009 Yules. None of the notes were among my favorites so I started with a decant. Here is where fantasy meets reality, I was almost afraid to try The Shivering Boy and discover I hated it.

 

But I did not hate it, I loved it. Oh Joy! The grape is not overly sweet, nor is it stale wine. It's a juicy grape encrusted in ice, frozen grapes left on the vine in an abandoned vinyard. It's crunching through the snow in the vinyard to the relative shelter of the remains of a stone estate. Hours later I detect some lingering warmth of the resins, the hard won, easily lost warmth of body heat trapped in a frosty wrap.

 

This is beautiful and I will be getting a full bottle soon.

 

 

[Altaira]

2009 version.

I was excited for this because I've been looking for the perfect grape scent. I do get a bit of grapes from this. And the "cold" note is interesting; it floats up and hits the roof of my sinuses. However, mostly I get perfume. I'm starting to think it's some kind of pine or fir note that does this as I have the same issue with Samhain and Joulumuori.

[Prism]

in bottle- menthol/snow/cold + grapes + trees (i'm gettin evergreen) + resins. I'm leery. I like "snow/cold" notes but I'm finding I'm picky about what they're paired with. I'm picky about evergreen notes too.

wet - whoa, grapes, frostily covered in mint, with resins. the evergreen scent is vanished. the mint/menthol/cold note quickly fades down and I have grapes + resins + that in the background. I dont associate this with "cold" anymore. It's more like an empty warmth, it's there, it's warm, but not really.

 

Dry - grapes, and resins are what i get, with evergreen and snow in the background.

 

 

rating - 7/10 but this really smells like another yule blend. Not sure which or what year (isn't that helpful?)

Edited December 7, 2009 by Prism

[milo]

Wet, this is very ozoney, with a touch of cold grapes. Very fitting of the description. It actually smells like a CK blend gone Christmas. As it dries, the ozone disappears, and it's a 'chilly' grape with a bit of spice. Kind of a Christmassy Hellion but with grapes instead of plums at this point. I'm kind of torn with this one. At times, I think it is too masculine on me, or just too Christmassy. Something that I wouldn't use except for this time of year, in which case the decant will be sufficient. Other times, I love how this is blended, and wonder if it will be a great summer blend. Sometimes, the grape note is just too 'winey' for me. Kind of like ice wine, only not as sweet.. I'll probably end up getting a bottle, but I do have a few weeks to make up my mind for sure. Do like, not sure if it is a love yet at this point...

[crowgoddess]

The Shivering Boy was one of my jump-out-of-my-comfort-zone-BPALs because I was wary of the notes, but every now and then I like to try something different. Like how I keep trying to eat olives because I want to be a person who likes olives. Someday, but anyhow, I digress. I'm reviewing a 2009 decant.

 

In the bottle: Cold, with a whisper of something not-quite-pine-y, but definitely outdoorsy. A touch of something sweet. And something on the wind, just a touch of... Dimetapp?

 

Wet, on me: Still a touch cold and outdoorsy, like you just walked into the house from a snowy day outside, to visit the Shivering Boy. And the Shivering Boy is shivering because he has chills. From a cold. And there is an open bottle of Dimetapp on the table.

 

Drydown: Did any of you have My Little Ponies? Do you remember these ponies that were like, ice cream inspired? And they smelled like various ice cream flavors? I had one named Cocoberry or something. I smell just like her. I didn't even remember this until I tried the Shivering Boy, and it is a happy memory, so I'd like to thank BPAL for bringing that back for me.

 

To be fair, I turn lots of perfume sweet, even commercial ones. So here are some more helpful observations for those who don't amp sugar: even on my skin, the sweet grape note that turns all My Little Pony on me is not overpowering. It also doesn't completely overpower the blend, nor does it go sickly sweet, even on me. Some of the cold, ozone, and scent I can only describe as frozen ground (NOT soil, or dirt) remain. On the right person, this could be an amazing, haunting scent.

 

Wish that person was me!

 

 

[Suusje]

Cold, green and fruity? It's actually really nice, but not something I would wear that often. I won't be buying a bottle but I'll definitely enjoy my decant

[izile]

The scent of frozen, dormant vineyards, bitter sleet, and piercing ozone, hurled through labdanum, benzoin, and olibanum.

 

In the decant: This is horrible of me, but it reminds me of a joke in an old "Drawn Together" episode (first season, since that's the only season of it I ever saw). In it they make a joke about making mentholated grape pencils. Yup. That's what I'm getting. Mentholated grape pencil.

 

Wet: It's sweeter, and less woody right off, but mentholated grape, nonetheless.

 

Dry: Cold woods, not so much mentholated as just crisp and woody, there's a lot less grape, it's kind of gone into the background and is playing much nicer with it's friends. I could swear this has either pine or cypress in it now.

 

Not for me, but it might be nice on a guy.

[LizzyLies]

At first, everyone blends together perfectly, it's chilled grapes and icy trees. Then the woods come to the front and the grape decides to hang back. It's cold grape-tastic goodness with a touch of fir--or some sort of evergreen tree.

I like it, but I'm not sure that I need more than my decant.

Edited December 10, 2009 by DeadlyDelicates

[pinkusmaximus]

I love the way this smells in the bottle--it's cool and green, a little sweet and fruity, but not too perfume-y, and I couldn't wait to try it on my skin. Unfortunately, once it's applied, all I smell is GRAAAAAAAAAAPE, and on my skin, grape = sour. I smell like I've been on a bender and need to shower! I might try this in an oil burner since I like the bottle smell so much, but on my skin, it turns into something very cheap and unpleasant....too bad!

[ami226]

On the skin: Hmmmm, spicy with some evergreen? Pretty nice!

 

On the dry down: Things get even spicier. Makes me sneeze! A very Christmasay scent.

[tdiym]

I never tried this the first time around, probably because I was poor and broke all the time. Now I'm still kind of poor and the timing is bad for my budget but must.have.moar. The labdanum is my must-have note and this, on me, is like a light version of labdanum, if such a thing can exist. So wonderful.

[scrappy]

2009 version. Cold and crisp. Menthol and pine perhaps, with a bit of fruit sweetness underneath. This blend smells like Christmas to me.